Wrecked (Josie Gray Mysteries #3)(55)

“What’s up?” she finally asked.

“You assigned me as the lead investigator, Josie.” He paused, letting that statement settle between them. “I have to tell you, I’m not very happy about what took place last night.”

Josie was taken aback. She started to speak, to say that she didn’t understand what he meant, and then her conversation with Marta came back to her. Her indignation quickly faded and she slumped back into her chair.

“That was a major development last night. Why wouldn’t you call me? We needed to talk that through. There was an argument to be made for going in last night, catching Hec off guard, bringing him in and interrogating him. But I wasn’t privy to that information. You decided for me. I had to find out from a report written by Marta, left on my desk, when I came to work this morning.”

“I’m sorry, Otto.”

“Apologies are useless in a murder investigation.”

Otto stood by the windows in the back of the office, hands shoved into his uniform pockets, his eyes on her, a disappointed look on his face. Josie was not one to let down a friend, especially not Otto.

She said nothing and looked away from him. He was right.

“Are we clear on this?” he said.

“We are.”

*

Otto kept his distance from her, allowing his anger to cool. Josie had worked with him long enough to know his anger was short-lived. He didn’t hold a grudge. She sat quietly at her desk, waiting for him to move on. He finally said, “I talked with Agent Omstead at length last night. He said the agent they have in Mexico said the Medranos aren’t kidnapping these days. Their drug business is so lucrative they don’t need to go that route. Their focus is money laundering and the drug trade.”

Josie blew air out in frustration. “So who kidnapped Dillon? Where’s the motive? Nothing makes sense. Nothing!”

Otto poured a cup of coffee and sat down in front of his desk. Ignoring her outburst, he turned his chair to face Josie. “So fill me in on Marta’s visit to the salvage yard.”

Josie described the stakeout, and her desire for Marta to move in closer to the men located on the Mexican side of the river. Otto leaned his forearm across his stomach, propping up his other arm to rest his chin on his fist.

“What’s your best guess?” he asked.

“Wally’s business partners are watching the salvage yard, waiting for Wally to sneak home one night. And maybe his business partner just happens to be the Medranos. He’s screwed them over, probably taken off with their money, and they want it back,” she said.

“Do you see a connection to Dillon and Christina?”

She frowned. “Nothing other than the accounting connection and the indictment. We need to know more about Wally’s business. It may look like a sleaze operation from the outside, but he could have a million-dollar business set up for all we know.”

Otto pressed his fingers into his eyelids. “The feds have been investigating Follet for six months. All they can find on him is some stolen cars getting shipped to Mexico.”

Josie got up to stare out the back window. At times, it felt to her as if she and Otto were an old, bickering married couple.

“Here’s what I don’t get,” Otto continued. “If the cartel is after Wally, why not kidnap his son? Why Dillon?”

She turned back to Otto. “It goes back to your theory. Dillon is Wally’s accountant. He has access to Wally’s accounts.”

“Wouldn’t Wally be more inclined to come home if his kid was in jeopardy than his accountant?” Otto frowned at his own question and then answered it. “Probably not.”

“He’d never win father of the year,” Josie responded. “He’s a crook, and he left his kid to fend for himself. But part of me thinks he’s not such a complete failure. Maybe he left thinking it was in Hec’s best interest.”

“Are you seriously taking up for Wally Follet?”

“Not taking up for him.” She looked away, trying to gather her thoughts. “I think it was the trailer that got to me. It was in such good shape. Decorated and clean. It wasn’t the house of someone who doesn’t care. And Hec. He’s seems like a good kid. Well-mannered. He gave me iced tea. After we drank it he took our dishes to the sink and washed them out. That’s a learned behavior. His dad did something right along the way, at least with his son.”

Otto narrowed his eyes at her. “So, what’s your point here?”

“I think someone knows Wally will come back for his son. Hec is the bait. That’s why they didn’t kidnap Hec. The big question is why is Wally so important to them? Does he have a load of stolen cars hidden away somewhere that he didn’t deliver?”

Otto nodded. “We need a link to the Medranos. So far we have nothing but a ransom request that technically could have come from anyone.”

The phone on Josie’s desk buzzed. “Chief Gray?” Lou asked.

“Yes?”

“Roxanne Spar is here. She’d like to talk with you.”

Josie took her finger off the conference button. “Shit.” She looked at Otto and he shrugged, implying that the mayor wasn’t his problem.

Otto motioned to get up and said, “I’m headed out. I’m going to take the Santa Muerte pendant to Presidio. Ask the artist if she recognizes it. See if we can narrow down the owner.”